


Thranto: Why I Ship It

by 13th_blackbird



Category: Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: M/M, Meta, Not Fic, Ship Manifesto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 09:49:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16930992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/13th_blackbird/pseuds/13th_blackbird
Summary: Grand Admiral Thrawn and Lieutenant Commander Eli Vanto. A highly-intelligent, dispassionate alien military strategist and his long-suffering, empathic, hot-tempered aide. Two outsiders together against the world. Two different ranks, two different backgrounds, and yet, they have more in common than they realize, and become quite a team over the course of their 9-year-long working relationship.Oh, and if you’re asking me? They fall in love along the way.A ship manifesto, reposted to the Archive for safekeeping. Originally posted on tumblr.





	Thranto: Why I Ship It

Grand Admiral Thrawn and Lieutenant Commander Eli Vanto. A highly-intelligent, dispassionate alien military strategist and his long-suffering, empathic, hot-tempered aide. Two outsiders together against the world. Two different ranks, two different backgrounds, and yet, they have more in common than they realize, and become quite a team over the course of their 9-year-long working relationship. **  
**

Oh, and if you’re asking me? They fall in love along the way.

*swivels chair around, sits on it backwards like a cool college professor*

Yes, hello, fellow kids: today, I’m here to discuss the whys and wherefores of my little lifeboat (just hit 100 fics, over a year after the book’s release! there are DOZENS OF US!) of an OTP.

A couple of qualifications and caveats up front:

I’ve been in one fandom or another for over twenty years, from the old fanfiction.net and Angelfire/Geocities days, to Livejournal/Dreamwidth, to our modern system, which is still a little baffling to me, tbh. I’m mostly a lurker. Thranto is the ship that brought me out of my dark corner and made me actually start posting and interacting, mainly because it is so tiny in comparison to other Star Wars pairings. My other OTPs include Mulder/Scully from the X-Files, Kirk/Spock from any Star Trek timeline, Adama/Roslin from reboot BSG, and I have also dabbled in Tony/Pepper from the MCU and a brief Holmes/Watson fling around the RDJ movies and the original ACD canon as an extension. I’m not a multishipper at heart, but I generally read widely/deeply within a fandom if the writing’s good and the writer can sell me on the pairing/AU, and I believe a good OT3 (or more!) solves most problems. Shipwars are boring; the more pairings, the more fics, the more content, the better. I just love fanfic and fandom, and am happy to find great content any and everywhere.

With that in mind, please know that this little bit of meta is intended as a celebration of one person’s interpretation, not as a persuasive essay or the Only True Way of reading canon. In fact, I’d love to read your (yes, your!) take on the characters, the pairing, or your own ship, too.

Some other things about me that color my ship goggles: I love working relationships that become something more (see above list of OTPs), mutual respect/competency, and sexual tension resulting from close proximity. I’m not a big enemies-to-lovers fan, generally. I am a BIG hopeless romantic. I love love, I love fixing broken characters and situations, I love when no one dies and everyone’s happy. I come to fandom and fic for the feels and the fix-its, not so much for the hurt/no comfort. (But hurt/comfort all the way, baby.) I want to bend my toys, but not break them. Angst is a good seasoning, but a little goes a long way, in my book.

A couple of other caveats about where my interpretations are coming from:

  * 2017 Timothy Zahn novel only need apply. I’ve read other Thrawn books from Legends, I’m an indifferent/incompletist Rebels watcher and really, the 2017 book is my favorite and the only thing I accept as true canon when it comes to this pairing. So, no Rebels, no Outbound Flight (Thrass lives!), etc., unless there’s a shiny bit of old canon I like and then I steal it. Fan’s prerogative.
  * Thrawn was telling Nightswan the truth about his fake exile and mission to the Empire in the book. Other people have differing thoughts on this, but that’s what I accept in my own mind.



So that’s me.

And now, you (the three of you still with me) are probably yelling: What about Thranto?

So let’s get into it.

_Thrawn_

Variously Cadet/Lieutenant/Captain/Commodore/Admiral/Grand Admiral Mitth’raw’nuruodo. One of the most beloved EU/Legends characters ever. As though we were clapping for Tinkerbell, our collective fan-belief in Thrawn resurrected him and brought him back to canon-life. We know him as a calculating strategist, a military genius, a focused, driven plotter who always has an angle on any given situation. He’s cultured, educated, an art-enthusiast. He’s articulate, he speaks multiple languages, he’s TALL, he’s got a PIERCING GAZE—

(Hang on, I need a minute)

(Okay, I’m all right. Whew.)

Thrawn is hot, I’m saying. I know it, you know it, Maris Ferasi knew it. [““Beautiful,“ Maris murmured, her eyes shining even more as she gazed at Thrawn.” -  _Outbound Flight_ ]

As a Chiss, a non-human from the Unknown Regions, Thrawn is  _in_  the Empire, becomes part of it, but is not  _of_  the Empire. He has his own motives, his own unique struggles, and no matter what, no matter how brilliant he is, the Empire sees him as an outsider. And yet, he still serves it, with all that talent and intelligence at full-strength.

[No one loves Thrawn like Timothy Zahn, his creator](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F2017%2F4%2F27%2F15434984%2Fstar-wars-timothy-zahn-interview-grand-admiral-thrawn-rebels-books&t=NTY0ZmUyMzc2OTRlMDE0OTAzY2Q0ODdiYzBkMTM4ZGVjZGU0OTYzNCw2enV6aFI1eg%3D%3D&b=t%3Af2UAeP3doaM03dEXMLUOIg&p=https%3A%2F%2Fcoldhillside.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F175458135808%2Fmeta-uncovering-the-passionate-pathos-in&m=1). He was created for the old EU as a worthy villain for Luke, Leia, and Han to fight post-ROTJ, and Zahn did just that with his original trilogy. But over the years, with more material, more books and stories and love from the fans, Thrawn got more complicated, more fully-rounded. People grew more attached to the character in his own right.

In the 2017 novel, Zahn jumps at the chance to fully explain Thrawn’s backstory and rise to power. A character who was originally a worthy, difficult-to-defeat villain without much depth becomes a complex protagonist: in the novel, Thrawn is a duty-bound warrior with deep ties and loyalty to his own people. He has good, even noble, motivations of his own (at least, at first), and a feeling of respect and care to his subordinates, regrets for the hard decisions of command, a desire to limit needless casualties. We also see him starting out: he’s alone, friendless, not fluent in the language of the Empire. Using only his outsized ego and his admittedly-excellent tactical skills as tools, he makes his way into an audience with the Emperor and starts his path to Grand Admiralship. And yet, even with those skills, he’s treated as an object. Parck calls him a “gift” to the Emperor — a slave of sorts? Certainly, he’s seen as less than a person and more of a tool.

Even for a serious, scheming, driven person like Thrawn, even though getting into that position in the Empire is his stated goal, that’s a hard place to start. Essentially a spy behind enemy lines, isolated from your people, never hearing your native language, never having your brilliance fully recognized, and always conscious of some nebulous threat to your distant home out there somewhere, growing ever closer.

Also, they make him go back to college and live in a dorm.

Luckily, Thrawn has enough of an ego and the right set of skills to withstand that kind of pressure. He has a wry sense of humor, and an ability to inspire loyalty in others. He can also be a bit of a drama queen who’s a little too enamored with his own bullshit, has a hard time letting things go, and wants to do everything himself since he’s the only one he trusts to get it right. The only times he leaves others in charge, they’ve been handpicked and trained by him personally. He likes having an appreciative audience for his more outrageous actions, and he’d much rather ask for forgiveness than permission. He’s willing to do anything necessary to achieve his goals within his own personal moral framework (which is a little loose), but he’d prefer to do it his own way.

It’s not too much of a stretch, given all that, to read him, I think, as lonely, seeking companionship and camaraderie, or as having simmering Big Feelings under that analytical mind.

Provided the right match comes around to spark the flame.

_Eli Vanto_

Eli is the first person who offers Thrawn any kind of personal consideration during his first contact with the Empire. Defying his lowly position, he throws Thrawn a lifeline: “Would Sy Bisti be better?” he asks. No one asks him to translate. He could have kept quiet. But he doesn’t. He inserts himself into a pretty uncomfortable situation that can’t possibly have any benefit for him personally, and as a result, unintentionally binds his fate to Thrawn’s for the next several years. His moment of consideration and empathy earns Eli a lot of trouble, but also a lot of personal growth.

That’s Eli Vanto for you. A fundamentally good person, an empathic person who can be counted on to get a good read on social situations and motivations, his own considerable cleverness and intellect are often overlooked in contrast to Thrawn’s. He has an analytical mind in a different way than Thrawn does, but he’s (eventually) as effective in his own way. He’s good at math and calculations, at drawing conclusions from a broad dataset. He’s intuitive, a little quicker to act than Thrawn, and good at improv-ing/acting on situations as they come at him.

Asked to translate, he does so faithfully, he doesn’t intentionally screw up Thrawn’s words or twist them to serve himself (which he could do). Asked to serve in a position he initially doesn’t want, he does it well. He’s curious, sometimes curious in spite of himself. He wants to learn. He’s a little more ambitious than he thinks he is, and sometimes needs a nudge to get out of his comfort zone and push himself. He’s a little skeptical, a LOT sarcastic, and he’s got a prideful streak and a hot temper under that fundamental goodness. His outsider status, as a “Wild Space hick,” gives him a chip on his shoulder that he’s always ready to fight to correct — but he won’t, because he respects regulations and knows that despite the momentary satisfaction of, for example, “punching Lieutenant Gimm across the corridor,” that won’t get him anywhere in the reality of the Empire’s hierarchy. He’s concerned about fairness, equity, and respect — for himself, and also, eventually, for Thrawn.

Eli is always internally rolling his eyes tiredly at Thrawn’s latest whatever, but he’s also fascinated by Thrawn, and a part of him always wants to find out what’s going to happen next, despite his insistence to himself that he wants a boring, steady life in supply.

_The Relationship_

Every opportunity Eli has to get away from Thrawn, or to distance himself from Thrawn, he turns down. Every opportunity Thrawn has to keep Eli close, he takes (including asking the Emperor for one (1) favor: to keep his translator with him). He originally states that he thought Eli was a spy, due to his knowledge of the Chiss, but after this (quite charged) scene wherein Eli tells Thrawn some of the Lysatran Chiss stories, Thrawn’s learned enough about Eli to know that’s not true:

 

Over the course of the novel, the relationship that started out as a rom-com-level exercise in forced proximity becomes a partnership. These two analytical minds spend a hell of a lot of time studying each other, trying to predict each other’s motives and goals, and just generally observing each other. (Which is also a great engine of physical and sexual tension, if you read it that way.)

Observation is attention. Attention is at the root of loyalty, concern, respect, empathy, and, eventually, love. Especially for two people who are fundamentally lonely (in different ways) inside a vast hierarchy. Especially for two people who started out at the same lowly, disrespected place together and follow each other through growing levels of power and influence, watching each others’ backs the whole time.

Let’s walk through some of the aspects of this relationship that really grab my attention, and thus, my love.

_Forced proximity/forced intimacy_

Eli acts as Thrawn’s translator. This is a uniquely powerful position despite Eli’s lower rank, and it reveals a level of vulnerability in the cool, confident Thrawn, especially early on. Thrawn’s always a little better at Basic than he lets on, I think, but still, as he tells Eli: “You are my translator. You hold my words in your hand, and their meanings. A misjudged translation will confuse or anger. A deliberate error could lead to death.” Guys, that is next-level romantic, in my book. Eli continues to act in this role throughout the novel, supplying Thrawn with technical terms in Basic for years after their initial meeting.

They live together for three months at the Academy. “You’ve been assigned a split double,” Deenlark tells them. That’s right:  **oh my god, they were roommates.**

And after that, just when he thinks he’s free: Eli just keeps getting assigned to Thrawn’s side and looking at the camera like he’s on The Office, and it’s hilarious.

_Loyalty & protection_

Eli constantly defends Thrawn, starting right from the beginning of their relationship. Not that Thrawn needs it, but Eli’s own streak of pride extends to cover Thrawn as well, pretty quickly. (additional note about the below: notice how the “polite lie” is re: the assignment, not the person)

  


Sure, Eli tells himself he can go back on this. But he never does. They do endure it together. Eli thinks of them as a  _we_ , not an _I_.  

He’s curious, he’s helpful, ready to back Thrawn up even when it’s risky: going with him to play cards with Orbar and Tuhuy (even teaching him the game), his big hero moment after getting unceremoniously pushed into the hedge:

Eli thinks about getting back to his old life. He could have taken that chance, he could have even justified it to himself – the odds are too great, he could get hurt, it’s not his responsibility. He doesn’t. He puts himself at risk to help.

And why does Thrawn push Eli into the hedge in the first place? This is Thrawn’s gambit, as we find out much later. He expected this attack, he let himself get injured. But he protects Eli by getting him out of the line of fire. And…

Meanwhile, Eli’s always saying things like this:

Eli turns down the opportunity to get away from Thrawn yet again when he’s offered the opportunity to captain his own ship. This is at one of his most resentful points–he wants that promotion! And he still says no. He sees the strings that offer holds, he’s smart enough that he could see that and take the chance, but he doesn’t. His reasoning? Not just that he’d be a tool, but that he’d be a tool used to take Thrawn down. And Eli respects and admires Thrawn. Working with him gives him an opportunity to see, as he thinks to himself at one point, “true genius in action.”

And if Eli’s defending Thrawn, you better believe Thrawn’s looking out for him too (again, pushing him into the hedge/”I would have protected you”!). Mostly regarding that elusive promotion. The second political favor he ever asks for? Again, it’s about guess who:  

_Shoring up each others weaknesses and strengths_

During this time (and at crucial points throughout the book), Eli is Thrawn’s cultural translator as well as his linguistic translator. Why do people in the Empire do things the way they do? What can Thrawn expect out of a given situation? Eli’s there to tell him - and he does! Again, with not much benefit to himself. I love [@arihndas-pryce](https://tmblr.co/mR_A4o7Yo7ESclzWLVDRmMw)’s interpretation of Thrawn as needing a software upgrade - it’s not like he doesn’t understand politics or interpersonal motivations, he’s just coming from a different cultural framework, given how these things work in the Ascendancy. Thrawn’s just missing, like, Empire-politics.exe or human-motivation-library.dll. Eli provides these “software updates” and helps Thrawn to solidify his plans. He’s a key part of Thrawn’s plans and his rise to power.

Meanwhile, Thrawn guides and directs Eli’s aptitudes for command, leadership, and strategy. He provides opportunities for Eli’s skills (his project on the doonium supply), showing him how important the skills he already has can be. He builds Eli’s confidence–and Eli doesn’t even realize it until later.

_Trust_

As a genius who is fully aware of his own skill level, Thrawn doesn’t trust easily. “Some problems can only be solved by me,” he notes at one point.

But he trusts Eli. And Eli trusts him in return, and rolls with those crazy plans as they come up.

And again:

_Additional considerations_

Not everyone ships it. As above, that’s no problem. Canon supports multiple interpretations, and I can understand if this ship doesn’t make sense to you. There are a couple of things that sometimes come up as an obstacle to this ship. Below are my personal justifications for them.

  * Age difference: There’s no doubt that there’s an age difference between these two. Thrawn has to be older, chronologically, than Eli, due to his previous military experience. How much older–both chronologically and culturally, given how long Chiss live–is debatable. Zahn has stated that Eli’s in his twenties throughout the novel, so although he’s a student, he’s an adult (and he has a previous career, too, “in his youth he ran cargoes for his parents’ company”). Regardless, I don’t read it as a hugely significant age difference (maybe 10-15 years), and I think their relative competency levels compensate for the age difference. Eli is competent, clever, and intelligent – he can handle it.
  * Rank difference: Yes, this kind of physical relationship would be frowned upon in the Real World, and most likely, it would be unethical. This is fiction. You can (and I do) headcanon that Chiss have no such prohibition. You can have them discuss it. Eli, as the lower-ranking one, can consent or even initiate. They can know and understand what they’re doing, and negotiate it within a fic. And if you’re into power dynamics and playing with them (guilty), this is a very rich vein to mine.
  * Teacher/student vibe: Some people see this relationship as professorial or even paternal on Thrawn’s part. Obviously, that’s not my jam (although professorial Thrawn can be sexy as well). To me, it’s more of a Holmes/Watson vibe – a partnership where the genius needs an appreciative and equally, though differently, clever person to fully express that genius (and, maybe one day, be called out on their bullshit). See above: they spent so much time seeing and observing each other that I see that teaching/learning aspect of their relationship as mutual rather than one way.
  * Thrawn manipulates Eli: some people see this relationship as manipulative, Thrawn controlling and directing Eli for his own purposes throughout the book, molding and shaping him. Again, Eli’s competent and clever. He sees what’s going on most of the time, has opportunities to take other paths, and never does. Also, I think Thrawn genuinely likes Eli and sees himself as assisting him to develop leadership and tactical skill, not necessarily manipulating him into doing so. The people we form relationships with always influence and change us. In this relationship, I think you can take a healthy or unhealthy view of that influence; I take the former, especially since I think Eli influences Thrawn in turn. 



_In conclusion_

They’ve known each other for years. They like each other. They’re a team. They’re interested in each other. They have each others’ trust, attention, and loyalty. Thrawn learns from Eli, Eli learns from Thrawn. They may not understand each other completely, but they have a good handle on each others’ personalities and drives. By the end of the book, they’re saying things like this to each other:

There are multiple ways to interpret that, but to me?

That’s love.  

_Bonus round: Sending Eli to the Ascendancy_

Okay, so, accepting all of the above as true: why would Thrawn send Eli away at the end of the novel?

To me, it all comes back to that piece about protection.

Thrawn makes plans that sometimes put himself, or others, at risk. He does his best to protect his subordinates from harm. Is it any coincidence that after everything goes horribly wrong at Batonn, the next time we see Eli, he’s off to the Ascendancy?

It’s just a much larger hedge for a much more dangerous problem. When Thrawn hears of Nightswan’s death, he thinks that the Galaxy is worse off for his loss. (He’s already compared Nightswan’s aptitudes to Eli’s.) That chapter opens with Thrawn’s reflections on regret and scar tissue, accepting the consequences–the losses–of his actions.

Then he’s called to meet with the Emperor.

And he sends Eli away.

Shades of Spider-Man talking to Mary Jane. It’s not that we can’t be together – it’s that it’s too dangerous for you to be with me. So take the skills you’ve learned and go somewhere where you’ll be appreciated. Also, please take my personal journal with you, in which I’ve written the following:

Peak romance, you guys.


End file.
